Prolog

I figure that everybody's got rules.

As a writer, who at least attempted to be a journalist, one of my rules was never bury the lead.

So up front I have to admit that when I solved the mystery of who killed Maria López, I did nothing.

Shame on me, right?

I mean, when I was in college, the truth and objectivity thing was like a journalistic Hippocratic Oath.

But after figuring out what really happened to Maria, things got a bit complicated and even dangerous, which required a proper story.

Because a young man, who many folk still believe committed and therefore got away with murder, pled guilty to a lesser crime; though, he did neither.

Neither murdered Maria or committed the crime for which he was sentenced.

My name is Kevin Dell, I’m the sports editor at The Worthboro Chronicle.

The day that I watched Matthew Shea receive a sentence for causing the death of Maria López—knowing that he was innocent—was the day that I began writing this story.

Once finished, I came back here to write this lead.